Curse

jonnybegood · Jun 17, 2006, 06:06 PM // 18:06

Hey, I have had this problem lately and I think others have had the same thing going on.

I am not bery technical, but the problem is that my PC will just restart randomly, this has been hapening for about 4 days.

For the most part during GW, but once or twice totally random.

I have disabled "automatic restart" under system failure, reinstalled GW and windows.

I think it might be over heating or not enough power, but I havent done anything to make thos happen, except maybe add more RAM.

any advice would help alot, and I was wondering how to tell wether I have enough power or not.

Edit: this last restart gave me a blue scrren of death, and aan error message saying "physical memory dump:"virtual memory dump" and giving me a line of numbers

Doomlord_Slayermann · Jun 17, 2006, 08:13 PM // 20:13

A good rule of thumb with computer hardware:
If you change something and then bad things start to happen, undo whatever it was and see if they go away.

Anyways, it is entirely possible that your new memory could be causing the problem. I think more specific information is needed before a diagnosis can be made.

Malice Black · Jun 17, 2006, 08:17 PM // 20:17

obvious reason would be bad ram..maybe the new ram isnt supported by your comp

im no tech wiz tho, wait for other opinion

MirageCloud · Jun 17, 2006, 08:39 PM // 20:39

i had random restarts while playing GW aswell, new feeding fixed it for me

shinrinningu · Jun 17, 2006, 08:40 PM // 20:40

Sounds like a memory problem to me. Try taking out your recently added memory and run your computer from there.

lightblade · Jun 17, 2006, 11:26 PM // 23:26

Memory comes second...the most direct one is your power supply not supplying enough power to your computer as you start playing games...

If you're overclocking, try to tweak it a little more and make sure it's stable

William Stark · Jun 19, 2006, 09:56 AM // 09:56

Funny I should see this thread here; I've had a very similar problem recently which has now taken a turn for the mortuary.

My comp started randomly turning itself off, which it has been doing with increasing frequency. It is often while I'm playing GW, but since that is 90% of what I use my home computer for, that is statistically likely

Rather than restarting though, it just goes completely dead, then a banshee-like electronic wail comes out of the case until I disconnect the power at the wall. Anything between 1 hour and a a day or two later, it starts to work again- until the next time. Typically for these intermittent faults, when I took it to PC World to be looked at, it didn't play up at all.

The PC is currently back at PC World after completely refusing to come back on this weekend (green LED flashes briefly, then immediate shut down and that wailing). I am *this close* to just saying sod it and looking for a new machine, but I want to know what caused the problem so I can try to stop it recurring.

Matsumi · Jun 19, 2006, 03:31 PM // 15:31

Could be a failing/overheating power supply, bad RAM, overheating CPU, failing vid card. I would do a little routine maintenance on it, clean out the dust from the fans and heatsinks while it's turned off and unplugged. Make sure all the fans are spinning when it powers on. Run a memtest86 on it to check your RAM or you can try this one

http://oca.microsoft.com/en/windiag.asp

You can copy it to a floppy or burn it to a bootable CD. For monitoring temps on your system, see if there's a hardware monitoring software utility that either came with your motherboard or from the hardware vendor's web site. If it does turn out to be a problem with the RAM, you could try simply taking out the RAM while the computer is turned off and unplugged, and re-seating it back in firmly.

Doomlord_Slayermann · Jun 19, 2006, 06:42 PM // 18:42

Quote:

Originally Posted by William Stark

Funny I should see this thread here; I've had a very similar problem recently which has now taken a turn for the mortuary.

My comp started randomly turning itself off, which it has been doing with increasing frequency. It is often while I'm playing GW, but since that is 90% of what I use my home computer for, that is statistically likely

Rather than restarting though, it just goes completely dead, then a banshee-like electronic wail comes out of the case until I disconnect the power at the wall. Anything between 1 hour and a a day or two later, it starts to work again- until the next time. Typically for these intermittent faults, when I took it to PC World to be looked at, it didn't play up at all.

The PC is currently back at PC World after completely refusing to come back on this weekend (green LED flashes briefly, then immediate shut down and that wailing). I am *this close* to just saying sod it and looking for a new machine, but I want to know what caused the problem so I can try to stop it recurring.

Wow, that's ugly. I recommend exorcism.

Kyosuke · Jun 19, 2006, 06:53 PM // 18:53

I don't have a link but google/download memtest and check to see if your new Ram is OK. As stated above this is probably your problem. It's probably not the fact it isn't compatitble with your system, it's probably the fact you mixed it with your other ram and they aren't syncing well together.

If memtest comes back clean, then you might want to update all your system/video drivers. That'll possibly help.

The liklihood of the power supply being it should be last on your list.

Fox Reeveheart · Jun 19, 2006, 07:18 PM // 19:18

I had and still have that problem but I found out what was happening...

It would happen when I play GW so i called/emailed support and I found out that my computer sucks in the heating category

My computer will overheat so quickly (especially now in summer) that without warning the computer will just go *poof* and restart, or it will give me some display driver error.

So just a few days ago I tried moving the whole computer into the kitchen where there is the big air conditioner, I opened the casing of the comp and let the cold air blow at it the whole time... It didnt screw up on me even one time O_O so now i know 100% sure that heating is my main prob.

BTW I BOUGHT FACTIONS TODAY ^_^

TurinPT · Jun 19, 2006, 08:02 PM // 20:02

thats usually a broken cooler or and usb error.

Sardonica · Jun 20, 2006, 03:37 PM // 15:37

I think there are 1000 people with the problem and almost as many reasons for it, and its been going on from the beginning of the game. Seems like both AMD and P4 cpus and both nvidia and ATI vid cards. To me that means no-one can really post a definitive solution. My comp shuts down in the game and have tried almost everything mentioned that someone without a computer store could try. Also moved the vid card to the other PCIE slot to avoid one of the motherboard heat sinks, case open fan 3200 temp 40 case closed fan 4200 temp 45, no change in shutoffs. Further, shutoff appears to be at the same duration of full screen play so if I go windowed to see temp, then back to full screen, it remembers and heads towards turnoff as if I had never switched back and forth. Sounds so much like a v....

During the process of playing the game on a 2-month old high-end computer, I have had to replace both the vid card and the power supply. Now I also suspect damage to the loaner vid card and the motherboard, all from GW. Actually with the existing loaner vid card, the problem has spread to at least AOM but it still takes about 1/2-1 hour for that to turn comp off.

What I find to be strange is that the shutdowns seemed to be erratic at first but by now they're predictable. My computer shuts down when playing full screen 10 seconds sooner each time (down to 1 min 39 sec last time).

But I can play windowed mode until the cows come home. I wonder what the big differences are? Maybe some savvy person could answer that.

Sorry, I'm just sharing frustrations, not looking for a solution, at least not until I get my repaired/replaced vid card back. Rediculous three weeks wait for that. Then I can only hope that the entire computer industry has gone to pot and its not the game.....Oh no!

Teh Diablo · Jun 21, 2006, 02:26 AM // 02:26

Quote:

Originally Posted by jonnybegood

Edit: this last restart gave me a blue scrren of death, and aan error message saying "physical memory dump:"virtual memory dump" and giving me a line of numbers

Exactly what mine done, and come to find out it was my motherboard going bad.

It kept doing it then it finally died, motherboard pooped out. The power would come on but the monitor would just stay black (like when you have your monitor on but your computer is off.)

The manufacter of my computer replaced the motherboard, now im back up and running fine. So I would check into your motherboard.

Atomheart · Jun 21, 2006, 12:14 PM // 12:14

In my old Windows install where i had GW it happened to me too. I supposed it's something with my graphics card because i saw a filename "nv2-something" where nv is nvidia. What the BSOD says is "Beginning dump of virtual memory....Virtual memory dump complete". I really dont know why this happened, and i dont really care. As long as i have windows i'll be getting blue screens, weird errors and restarts. And ANet is not planning to make a client for Linux in the near future...

hypocrites_tale · Jun 21, 2006, 03:35 PM // 15:35

Here's a few things i can think of with my experience of hormonal compies.

-Video Card:
It could possibly be overheating. Find out the brand and make of your video card, go to the corresponding website and search for a temperature sensor. Have it going on in the background while you do whatever you do that shuts down the computer, and look at the log to see if it's in dangerous territory. You can do this same thing with your motherboard.
-REALLY IMPORTANT: Make sure you have the latest drivers for your video card. Many times, something needs to be patched in the software that hasn't been updated and you wind up with a process in a constant state of WTF'ing when it comes to memory resource management.
-If you have a packaged computer (Dell/Compaq/HP bundles, etc.) most of the time, they don't leave too much space inside the tower, make sure you clean out any dust from the fans, as previously suggested.
-You can also play it safe and play with low vid settings.

-CPU and memory:
Run less background applications when attempting to run the game.
Run memtest for safety.
For the hell of it, run spybot or whatever anti-spyware and antivirus you have to get rid of possible memory-consuming background apps. Jusched.exe is a useless process you should get rid of too.

That's all i have for now, because my withdrawal from Guild Wars Factions has been nagging at me for too long.

Message me for further insight.

Good luck!

zeroxy · Jun 23, 2006, 06:01 AM // 06:01

I had the exact same problem. I have 2 512mb rams and when I started getting this problem i removed one of them and it got fixed straight away, if you have only one ram then buy another one and if you have 2 and you think you can live with one then just remove one =)

Meols Green · Jun 23, 2006, 11:10 AM // 11:10

Weird!

I recently had this problem... resulted in a pro shop not being fixed... but i did it myself.

What started to happen was, when the computer was being stressed, it would shut off instantly... got to the point that one person said before... it would flash the green power LED and then go straight off...

I just recently installed a new power supply... so i thought it might be that (but it had been working fine for a few days playing guild wars for HOURS and not one problem).

I tried everything, leaving the side case open, installing a graphics card cooling fan... so i had 5 case fans in (lol)

Took it to the PC shop they said the voltages were messed up in the BIOS, and that they had fixed it now.... Wrong. They hadnt.

So what i did was, simply took out the CMOS battery and popped it back in... been working since, not one random shutdown!!

My friend is also having the exact same problem... his computer shuts down when its been on for 5 mins, or 50 mins... it seems odd that its happening to ALOT of people around the same time...

Quote:

Originally Posted by zeroxy

I had the exact same problem. I have 2 512mb rams and when I started getting this problem i removed one of them and it got fixed straight away, if you have only one ram then buy another one and if you have 2 and you think you can live with one then just remove one =)

This guy got it right.

If you think its RAM and you have two sticks, take one out and try one alone, if you get no problems, try with the other... if you get no problerms with either... then its not the ram...at least its unlikely.

If possible try the old RAM, and see if you get no problems.

ange1 · Jun 23, 2006, 12:40 PM // 12:40

i personally think ur computer is overheating as the weather gets hotter.

clean ur fans heatsink, reapply cooling paste, open case

AlbinoChocobo · Jun 23, 2006, 12:47 PM // 12:47

Summer. Play GW at night, when it's cooler

BTW, good case ventilation is required, but good room ventilation is useful too. My computer is under my desk/near the wall, and the surrounding air does move too much. I just make sure my fan also creates a light draft at ground level, and things run a lot smoother.